PokéBeach

PokéBeach
"Your Ultimate Pokémon Fansite!"
Language	English
Status	Active
Run	2003 - Present
Date opened	July 15, 2003
Creator	Jon Sahagian, a.k.a. Water Pokémon Master
Current owner	{{{owner}}}
Forum	PokéBeach.com Forums
Mascot	Staryu
Website	Main Page

PokéBeach is a Pokémon fan site run by Jon Sahagian, better known as "Water Pokémon Master". The site primarily focuses on the Pokémon Trading Card Game, posting news, strategy articles, and hosting discussions about competitive play. The website also covers the larger aspects of the Pokémon franchise. It is one of the oldest consistently-running Pokémon fan sites.

History

The site was launched on July 15, 2003, when Sahagian was 14 years old, although he drafted earlier iterations of the site going back to 1999. Since then, it has become one of the most popular Pokémon fan sites on the Internet. Sahagian continues to write news articles on a daily basis and manages the website's staff.

In July 2008, Sahagian held an interview with Masamitsu Hidaka, a director and storyboard artist for the anime. In it, he revealed previously unknown information about the series, including discussion about the intended purpose of the GS Ball and the reasons behind Brock's replacement in the second anime season. The following year, Sahagian was able to see an early screening of the twelfth movie in Japan, the only known foreigner to ever do so.

Upon the release of Pokémon Black and White in September 2010, PokéBeach was among a few Pokémon fan sites to receive a cease and desist order from Nintendo for posting early images of Pokémon Black and White. The site then temporarily changed all pictures from the games to pictures of Ditto and changed their name to PokerBeach as a joke to protest Nintendo's actions.

On November 12, 2012, the site's forums revamped its rules and changed its content policy to PG-13 to better cater to older fans. Prior to this, moderation policies went through a strict review and were revamped.

On May 11, 2013, PokéBeach disclosed information from a supposed "insider" about Pokémon X and Y. A lot of this information was later revealed to be true, such as the new Fairy type, Pancham's evolution, and more.

The website went through a massive redesign in May 2015, introducing a new layout with forum integration, as well as a premium subscription service where players could subscribe to read TCG strategy articles from competitive players. The site also began a partnership with "TCGplayer," an online TCG store. The partnership allowed PokéBeach to host large online tournaments with free prizes, shipping several booster boxes a month to players around the world.

Following the site relaunch, in June 2015, The Pokémon Company International sued PokéBeach over its short-lived partnership with "TCGOne", an unofficial Pokémon TCG simulator that TPCi claimed was "an unauthorized version of PTCGO". PokéBeach quickly removed all references to the simulator from its website as well as all of its Pokémon card scans. TPCi then granted PokéBeach a special license to display its card images on the website; the website now states at the bottom: "English card images appearing on this website are the property of The Pokémon Company International, Inc."

In April 2017, PokéBeach launched a Discord server to replace their old Skype chat.

Upon the release of POKÉMON Detective Pikachu in May 2019, Sahagian revealed he was invited to a private screening of the film a year prior where he was able to provide feedback to the filmmakers. He revealed a few changes that were made to the film along the way.

On June 28, 2021, PokéBeach was hacked by a professional team in order to hold the site hostage to make money, resulting in the deletion of all files on the website. Three days later, the website was back up in a limited form so Sahagian could continue to post news stories, and he is currently working to bring back the forums.

Staff

Many of PokéBeach's staff members have been working on the website since as early as 2003.

• Water Pokémon Master - Editor-in-Chief, Webmaster
• peer - Programmer
• Shining Raikou - Social Media

Forums

• Administrator - Shining Raikou

Super Moderators

• Asclepius24 – Pokémon TCG Head
• Athena – Beach Life Head
• Brave Vesperia – Marketplace Head
• Equinox – Pokémon VG Head
• Ice Arceus – Creative Works Head

Moderators

• bbninjas
• Bolt the Cat
• bonus41
• Camoclone
• Celever
• homeofmew
• Jabberwock
• Kecleon-X
• Luispipe8
• Machamp the Champion
• Materious17
• Mora
• MtheW
• Robin Aisaga
• SaiScott95
• scattered mind
• SilverSilent
• Siren
• steffenka
• Tails
• Yakkov

News

• Water Pokémon Master - News Head
• Athena
• bbocwerdna
• Celever
• Machamp the Champion
• My Little Keldeo
• Rusty Sticks
• steffenka

Articles

• Water Pokémon Master - Articles Head
• Brandon Nguyen
• Camoclone
• DogStar
• Grimsashi
• Machamp the Champion
• Phototoxin
• SaliosGnome

Activities

• Shining Raikou - General Activity Head

General Activity Organizers

• Athena
• bbninjas
• Celever
• Ice Arceus
• Luispipe8
• Machamp the Champion
• Materious17
• SilverSilent

Video Game Organizers

• Bolt the Cat
• Brave Vesperia
• Camoclone
• Celever
• Equinox
• homeofmew
• Mora
• Yakkov

Video Game Tutors

• Equinox - Video Game Tutor Head
• iSharingan
• Keeper of Night
• PG24
• Yakkov

Chat Room

• Shining Raikou - Chat Room Head

Moderators

• Brave Vesperia
• Celever
• Equinox
• Machamp The Champion
• One Approved
• peer
• PikaMasterJesi
• SilverSilent

Badges

• Shining Raikou - Badges Head
• Brave Vesperia
• homeofmew
• Machamp the Champion
• PG24

External links

• PokéBeach

This article is a part of Project Fandom, a Bulbapedia Project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every aspect of the Pokémon Fandom.